Synopsis
Everyone has secrets. Mags’s has teeth.
Magdalena Herrera is about to graduate high school, but she already feels like an adult with serious responsibilities: caring for her ailing grandmother, working a part-time job, clandestine makeouts with a girl who has a boyfriend. And then there’s her secret, which pulls her into the basement each night, drains her of energy, and leaves her bleeding. A secret that could hurt and even kill if it ever got out — like it did once before.
So Mags keeps her head down, isolated in her small desert community. That is, until her childhood friend Nessa comes back to town, bringing vivid memories of the past, an intoxicating glimpse of the future, and a secret of her own. Mags won’t get attached, of course. She’s always been strong enough to survive without anyone’s help.
But when the darkness starts to close in on them both, Mags will have to drag her secret into the daylight, and choose between risking everything… or having nothing left to lose.
From: Scholastic
Notes on This Title
The main characters of this title are a Latina teen who is a lesbian and a bisexual trans girl.
A character abducts someone with whom he was in a romantic relationship and threatens to kill himself if they don’t get back together. There are frequent depictions of blood.
Awards
2024 Publishers Weekly Best Books - Young Adult
2024 New York Public Library Best Books for Teens
Reviews
“Well-drawn, deeply realized characters enliven this spellbinding and fantastical queer coming-of-age love story.” (Source: Kirkus Reviews)
Interviews
Geeks OUT!: “Interview with Molly Ostertag, Author of The Deep Dark“